BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has witnessed a safe and orderly Spring Festival travel rush that lasts from Feb. 1 to March 12, railway police in Beijing said Sunday.

The police have dealt with more than 172,000 cases of passengers carrying prohibited items, busting 2 groups and capturing 412 people suspected of ticket scalping, the police said in a statement.

The police examined 273 units and 3,512 locations as part of their fire control operation during the period, it said.

They also helped passengers retrieve 4,193 pieces of lost luggage worth over 1 million yuan (158,015 U.S. dollars), according to the statement.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese traveled during the Chinese Lunar New Year for family gatherings or vacations. The annual travel rush around the festival often puts the transport system to test.

About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the period.